quote:I thought Diaby was fine. Had a couple of nice dribbles. Also, his height was important at the end. He'll continue to knock the rust off. Just good to see him getting game time and not getting hurt. He took a couple of tough (but fair) challenges and brushed them off.

Ramsey was meh in MF today, but actually did quite well at RB. I remember Wenger back in the day mentioning Ramsey could play RB. Did well as an emergency fill-in today.

He is slow getting into the game. We need pts, not to work in often injured players.

I thought Ramsey played well. He may never be great, but I was really hoping he was going to curl that one it and get some confidence back. And he played very well on defense. He had 5 successful tackles out of 6. He led both teams.

re: Arsenal 2012/2013 Season Long Thread(Posted by cwil177 on 2/10/13 at 2:15 am to dgnx6)

quote:“I think he’s got the potential to become one of the best in the world. I don’t want to add any pressure. That’s unfair. But playing against him recently and in training, he’s a one-off. He’s a lot better than your normal Premier League midfielder. I have a lot of confidence in him. He’s got a bit of everything, he can tackle, get up and down the pitch, create a goal, score a goal, can pass. He can tick almost every box, and he’s going to get better and better. He’s only 21 and a fantastic talent. We’re all delighted he’s back and happy to play with him. I hope he brings out the best in all of us. He’s a top player and I hope he gives the dressing room a lift. We need competition for places if we’re going to get to Brazil. All over the pitch, there’s good competition for places. He’s been frustrated at the amount of football he’s missed. There’s nothing worse than missing a year of football. He wants to make up for lost time. You have to give credit to his club manager as well, and he’ll come back to top form. And he’ll get better, and better than he is now. Which is a scary thought. He looks as if he can cope with the pressure. You’ve still got the likes of Rooney, Lampard and Cole, other top players in the group, and we’ll share the responsibility out. It’s up to us to put our arms round him and make sure you lot don’t put too much pressure on him.” – Steven Gerrard on Jack Wilshere.

Someone said it on Twitter yesterday and I agree. Ramsey may never become the star we thought he could've been before his horrific injury, but he could be a really valuable utility player for many years.

Haha. I had my doubts about Theo at CF for sure. He's struggled where I figured he would, but has been better in the things that he is good at and overall has done quite well there. I pretty much gave up on Giroud after a particularly bad performance earlier in January then he went on this current run.

I have full faith in Wenger, so I've seen the positives in all our players despite the fact their form fluctuates. When I watch games, I look at patterns of decision-making, and not the end-result, as the latter can be affected by luck, while the former is more indicative of quality. Fans, especially Arsenal fans, are so knee-jerk it makes me not want to discuss this sport.

quote:He's struggled where I figured he would, but has been better in the things that he is good at and overall has done quite well there.

He's been brilliant at finding pockets of space. With him, we extend the pitch vertically and horizontally, since he is always a danger to get in behind a defense. I love what he brings to the center of the field. He's okay at holding up play, and his link-up play is average, but his movement is pretty excellent. The move to the center has also made him a better winger, as he understands what a CF needs in terms of delivery.

As far as Giroud, I liked him as soon as I saw him play. Extremely intelligent movement, superb link-up play, good power, and a real desire to score. He's a rare big man who can play with his back to goal, and run beyond the CBs, albeit slowly (still faster than Bendnter).

Also Ramsey has been a revelation at the DLP. The West Ham game he had 123 touches with a 95% clip. Liverpool he 117 passes at an 89% clip. Against Sunderland he played 90 passes at an 83% clip, playing slightly more forward than the other two games. He's developing really nicely, and his tutelage on the wing, and at AM has helped him in his decision making. He's the successor to Arteta in that role, which frees up Jack to play the no.10. Also he's suddenly learned how to tackle, or perhaps more accurately, he's not afraid to tackle anymore. I've liked what I've seen from him, and he's rewarded my faith. I hope he doesn't do a Denilson now, but he's a much harder worker, so hopefully that doesn't happen.

I thought Rambo was great at DLP. Thought he wasn't nearly as good against Sunderland until he slid in at RB.

The Sunderland match was crazy. Easily could've been an 8-2 game yet it ended up 1-0. You were talking about process compared to result. That was a game where the process was sublime, but the result was sorely lacking.